# Can Democrats actually stop the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733 "2018-09-04T12:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 230
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4581 "2018-09-28T03:02:01Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Exactly. It is whatever the senate is ok with. Not what congress has set it as. > > Because it has not been challenged only means no one has felt like challenging it for any number of reasons. The 1st Congress mainly consisted of the very same people who drafted and signed the Constitution. Do you think they’d have passed a law setting the size of the Supreme Court at six if they thought Congress shouldn’t have the power to set the size of the Supreme Court? Do you think George Washington, who was president of the Constitutional Convention, would have signed it if he thought Congress shouldn’t have that power? The fact that the people who wrote the Constitution passed a law setting the size of the Supreme Court is clear proof that they intended for Congress to have that power. > [@](#): > > What if the senate, tomorrow, considered the nomination of a 10th justice. What do you think would happen? They’d need to pass a bill setting the size of the Supreme Court at ten first. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4582 "2018-09-28T03:02:45Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Feinstein is safe in her job for as long as she wants it. So if the Nazi Party goes true to form, they’ll caucus tomorrow and decide they have 50 votes and have the sexual predator sworn in Monday. And the best part: they’ll _still_ get to whine about Bork! And when he rules that the head Nazi won’t have to go to prison for state crimes if he pardons himself, it will be the _right_ kinds of jackboots on the necks of the _wrong_ kinds of people! All they need do is start a fire somewhere and declare martial law. The most recent poll had her lead over Kevin De Leon cut from 22% to 11%, but it’s true that she’ll probably win re-election. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4583 "2018-09-28T03:05:14Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They’d need to pass a bill setting the size of the Supreme Court at ten first. Or they could assert that congress has no authority on the size of the supreme court because the constitution is not stupid enough to let one branch so thoroughly control another branch of government because that would be colossally stupid and break the very idea of the government they wanted to create. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4584 "2018-09-28T03:06:19Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Or they could assert that congress has no authority on the size of the supreme court because the constitution is not stupid enough to let one branch so thoroughly control another branch of government because that would be colossally stupid. And they’d be wrong, as precedent, the text of the Constitution, and the subsequent acts of its authors in passing the Judiciary Act of 1789 (to say nothing of the fact that Washington did not nominate any justices until after the Act was passed) all demonstrate. Your unevidenced assertion that “the Constitution is not stupid enough” is groundless. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4585 "2018-09-28T03:09:27Z")
I just found out that Fords complaint originated when K was on the short list. Meaning she made it to save them from choosing him, so we wouldn’t need all this. That’s not demonstrating a bias towards trump. She was doing him a favor. If she was a deep democratic agent she would have held her fire and accused the person after the choice. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4586 "2018-09-28T03:11:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And they’d be wrong, as precedent, the text of the Constitution, and the subsequent acts of its authors in passing the Judiciary Act of 1789 (to say nothing of the fact that Washington did not nominate any justices until after the Act was passed) all demonstrate. Your unevidenced assertion that “the Constitution is not stupid enough” is groundless. No…no one has challenged it is all. And I will note that you did not refute how retarded it would be for the government to operate as you would have it. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4587 "2018-09-28T03:15:01Z")
[Evan McMullin](https://twitter.com/Evan_McMullin/status/1045504402373726208) > [@](#): > > Ford accusation aside, what gives me pause about Kavanaugh’s credibility are his: > > -Repeated misrepresentations of witness statements. > -Refusal to acknowledge his heavy drinking despite indications of it. > -Unlikely portrayal of “Renate Alumni.” > -Calendar entry on 1 July 1982. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4588 "2018-09-28T03:15:03Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > No…no one has challenged it is all. That’s because there’s nothing to challenge - _every_ Constitutional lawyer agrees that Congress has the power to set the size of the Supreme Court. > [@](#): > > And I will note that you did not refute how retarded it would be for the government to operate as you would have it. I’m not interested in the question of whether the government is “retarded”. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4589 "2018-09-28T03:18:25Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > I get why Trump wants Justice “Presidents are immune from prosecution” but I don’t understand why Republican senators are defending this guy. It’s not like the choice is Kavanaugh or a liberal justice. All they have to do is ask the Federalist Society who’s next on the list and confirm. Because the next person on the list would **inevitably** get smeared as badly as Kavanaugh has been. And after watching this witch hunt, who in his right mind would want to subject himself and his family to that kind of stress? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4590 "2018-09-28T03:19:46Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Any attempt to pack the court, either by Republicans or Democrats, will result in popular fury. > > Partisanship is already spiralling out of control. Do you really want to fan that fire? Judging by the performance by Republicans today (hell, since 2010), it seems that would be the new normal for getting things done. If it’s OK for the GOP, we’d be damn fools NOT to be all in for it. Hell’s to the yes, man, pass me my fan and my asbestos britches! ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4591 "2018-09-28T03:20:36Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Any attempt to pack the court, either by Republicans or Democrats, will result in popular fury. > > Partisanship is already spiralling out of control. Do you really want to fan that fire? When Kavanaugh seated on the SCOTUS popular fury will erupt and gasoline will be poured on that fire. Of course, THAT is something the GOP doesn’t care about… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4592 "2018-09-28T03:24:12Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > That’s because there’s nothing to challenge - _every_ Constitutional lawyer agrees that Congress has the power to set the size of the Supreme Court. Cite for “every constitutional lawyer”. I guess it comes down to your philosophy of how our government is supposed to work. You seem to think congress (the legislative branch) is supreme. You think that it should be able to re-size another branch of government which amounts to supreme control over that branch. I think the founding fathers created the three branches to be co-equal and balance each other. How do you square the FFs desire with what you are saying? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4593 "2018-09-28T03:29:52Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > You seem to think congress (the legislative branch) is supreme. You think that it should be able to re-size another branch of government which amounts to supreme control over that branch. I don’t “think they should be able to”. I think they _do and always have_. > [@](#): > > I think the founding fathers created the three branches to be co-equal and balance each other. How do you square the FFs desire with what you are saying? [The Founding Fathers passed the first law which specified the number of justices on the Supreme Court](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_Act_of_1789). They’re the first ones to do the thing that you claim they didn’t think they should have been able to do. That’s how. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4594 "2018-09-28T03:31:06Z")
Was there something, I don’t know what exactly, but Kav was repeating himself and stammering, pursing his lips and tonguing the inside of his mouth? It was painful to watch. Like a worm on a hook, squirming and flopping. He was imploding. If they put him on the court, it’s gonna be ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4595 "2018-09-28T03:32:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I think the founding fathers created the three branches to be co-equal and balance each other. How do you square the FFs desire with what you are saying? I think you are wrong about the Founding Father’s desires. Now then, what does that have to do with passing a new law setting the size of the Supreme Court? Congress has done it the past, and the Founders desires didn’t seem to stop them. What has changed? ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4596 "2018-09-28T03:33:52Z")
Well Corker says he is already a yes vote because Ford presented no evidence to back up her claims. I hate to be as negative as some here but it looks like this is the way things are going. They hold this sham of a hearing which enables them to say that they “investigated” the allegations, but it is his word against hers, presumption of innocence, etc and he gets confirmed. Meanwhile, I have no doubt that Kavanaugh was told he had to show more emotion by the WH after his Fox interview. Apparently the Head Cheetoh was disappointed in that performance and wanted him to be more forceful. Also Graham auditioning for AG makes sense to me. I calling it that he is confirmed by Monday. I suspect that the midterms may be a blood bath for the Republicans after that. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4597 "2018-09-28T03:35:33Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Was there something, I don’t know what exactly, but Kav was repeating himself and stammering, pursing his lips and tonguing the inside of his mouth? It was painful to watch. Like a worm on a hook, squirming and flopping. > He was imploding. If they put him on the court, it’s gonna be ugly. He was desperately trying to keep from bursting into tears. He mostly held it together, but just barely. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4598 "2018-09-28T03:35:42Z")
**Whack-a-Mole** , you’re fighting and dying on a particularly stupid hill. Congress has modified the size of the court about a half-dozen times in our history. It also fixes how many department heads may be appointed, how many generals, how many appeals and district court judges, and so on. Do you really believe that the only thing stopping Trump from naming, say, three more justices and sending them to the Republican controlled Senate for confirmation is mere “tradition?” No, there’s no office that is vacant for them to hold. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4599 "2018-09-28T03:39:28Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Also official , the Pope is Catholic Ahh, but does he shit in the woods? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733/4600 "2018-09-28T03:40:18Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Because the next person on the list would **inevitably** get smeared as badly as Kavanaugh has been. …naaaaaah. This didn’t happen to Gorsuch. It isn’t inevitable that it would happen to anyone else. What happened today was because Ford came forward and told her story. That story wasn’t a “smear.” If you think it was a smear then have the guts to call Ford out for it. > [@](#): > > And after watching this witch hunt, who in his right mind would want to subject himself and his family to that kind of stress? After watching today’s travesty, I have to ask myself what women in their right mind would ever voluntarily choose to interact with men ever again? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=229) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-democrats-actually-stop-the-nomination-of-brett-kavanaugh/820733.md?page=231)